REGENT THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 42, 20 February 1939, Page 9

REGENT THEATRE

"LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID.” "This is a story of people—not of causes,” says Paramount in the foreward to “The Last Train from Madrid,” the Spanish war drama which schccns to-day at the Regent Theatre. But lor all that ijisclaimer the atmosphere of the picture is not one that will elicit much sympathy for the rebel cause. Madrid, cowering under the terror of the early air raids, is vividly and terrifyingly portrayed. Indeed that atmosphere—the atmosphere of reai>/ —is the picture’s chief virtue. There are some remarkably memorable and dramatic moments in the course of the film, too, particularly that in which release of convicts to fight against the Insurgents is portrayed and that in which is shown the march of an Amazon battalion to the front. The director has made effective use of authentic newsreel shots of the air raids on Spain's capital, but the full horror of the civil war is implied rather than shown in unpleasant detail. Anthony Quinn, a comparative newcomer to the screen, is excellent in the leading role of the Spanish patriot, and he is most ably supported by Lionel Atwill and Gilbert Roland. Olympne Bradna, since particularly noted for her part in "Souls at Sea,” provides an excellent reason why the American reporter

takes more than a professional interest in the war. Sherwood Bailey, the read-headed, freckle-faced kid of the Our Gang comedies, has his Hollywood chance at last. For the past three years, ever since his “graduation” from the Our Gang outfit, Sherwood has been trying hard for a real motion picture role. He got it when Paramount went into production with “Too Many Parents,” on the same programme. Frances Farmer, Lester Matthews, and four other young Hollywoodians, Billy Lee. Georg* Ernst, Douglas Scott and Buster Phelps are also in the cast.